Zhongyuan or Central Plain refers to the area that consists of the downhill / low plains of the Huang He / Yellow River. According to historical sources, this is the area where the first Han-Chinese lived and is seen as the cradle of Chinese civilization.
The Han-Chinese in ancient China did not call their country Zhongyuan, but Zhongguo or Zhongzhou, meaning Middle Kingdom, places the country in the middle of the world. China originally consisted largely of parts of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hebei and Shandong provinces and smaller parts of Henan. Later, the area where Han-Chinese lived continued expanded.
After the fall of the Song Dynasty, millions of Han-Chinese traveled from Zhongyuan to flee for the Mongols. They were called Hakkanezen and fled to southern China. The Hakkaneans continued to move south and now most of them live in southern Fujian, South Henan, South Jiangxi, Guangdong. Many immigrants have also immigrated abroad, such as the Netherlands and Great Britain.
The Mandarin that is spoken in most parts of Zhongyuan is called Zhongyuan-Mandarin.
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